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Thursday 9 July – Saturday 1 August 2026 | 7.30pm; with 2pm matinees on selected dates
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Young Company 2026 – 2027

Young Company 2026 – 2027

Your Stage. Your Story. Your Connections.

Are you aged 14 – 18 and ready to take your creativity to the next level?

Join a company of passionate young performers and become part of an exciting theatre-making journey. Make new friends, build confidence, develop your performance skills and explore your creativity in a supportive and ambitious environment.

Together, we’ll work towards staging a brand-new play as part of National Theatre Connections – one of the UK’s leading youth theatre festivals. Every year, Connections commissions fresh new plays from some of the country’s most exciting playwrights, created especially for young performers.

Working alongside a professional director and creative team, you’ll rehearse, shape and bring one of these new plays to life before performing it at Theatre by the Lake as part of the National Theatre Connections Festival.

Whether you’re an experienced performer or looking for your next creative challenge, this is your chance to be part of something bigger: a national celebration of young theatre-makers, new writing and unforgettable live performance.

Create. Collaborate. Perform. Your next adventure starts here.

How To Apply

We’re expecting a lot of interest in this year’s Young Company, so we’d like to invite all interested young people to attend one of our free taster sessions.

This session is a chance to meet the team, take part in some fun activities and get a feel for what being part of the Young Company is all about. It’s also an opportunity for us to get to know everyone who is interested in joining.

If demand exceeds the number of places available, we’ll use the taster sessions to help us create a balanced group, considering factors such as age, experience and the overall mix of participants. Previous theatre experience is not required – we’re looking for young people who are enthusiastic, willing to take part and excited to work creatively with others.

We have number of bursaries available – if cost may be a barrier to you/your young person accessing the Young Company, please let us know using the form below that you’d like to explore this.

Taster sessions will take place on Saturday 22 August, at 11am and 2pm. To book your place please complete this form.

If you have any questions please contact Claire at claire.dunk@theatrebythelake.com

More Info

Young Company sessions will begin on Wednesday 30 September and run every Wednesday (during term time) between 6pm – 9pm until April 2027.

The NT Connections Festival takes place on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 April.

Cost: The taster session on Saturday 22 August is free. The Young Company fee is £12 per session.